Abstract:

Open source software is becoming the most interesting `new' phenomenon
of the entire information technology landscape, generating a level of
interest similar to that
of the first moments of the Internet. However, as we will show in this
document, the open source software phenomenon is not historically new,
although in recent years it has reached a critical
mass, which has allowed it to enter the mainstream software market.

The impact of open source technology is expected to be quite
noticeable in the software industry, and in society as a whole.
It allows for novel development models, which have already been demonstrated
to be especially well suited to efficiently take advantage of
the work of developers spread across all corners of the planet.
It also enables completely new business
models, which are shaping a network of groups and companies based on
open source software development. And it has, in general, a very positive
impact as an enabler for the creation of new markets and business
opportunities.

Despite these facts, many people think that the open source
movement is merely another temporary fashion in the software
industry. On the contrary, many other believe that changes caused by
open source will be so deep that they will completely shape the
software industry of the first decade of the 21st centuy. This
document tries to provide some facts, opinions and references, so that
the reader can decide if all of this is just nonsense, or if it
deserves more and better study and consideration.

This is a living document, updated from time to time. If you
want to get the latest `stable' release, you can download it.

The copyright of this
article is shared by its authors. This article is
distributed under the OR Magazine
License. An on-line copy of this license is available at
http://www.openresources.com/magazine/license/
It is also included here, for your convenience.

Copyright 1999,2000.

Footnotes

The working group on Libre Software was created at the initiative of the
Information Society Directorate General of the European
Commission. The members of the group are
Carlo Daffara (Conecta Telematica, Italy),
Jesús M. González-Barahona (Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Spain),
Edmund Humenberger (G.A.M.S., Austria),
Werner Koch (German Unix User Group, Germany),
Bernard Lang (INRIA, France), and
Ben Laurie.
Some representatives of the European Commission services have also
contributed with their input to this paper. They are
Philippe Aigrain (Information Society Directorate General, Unit E2),
Laurent Cabirol (Information Society
Directorate General, Unit 1), and
Michel Lacroix (Information Society
Directorate General, Unit E2).
This paper was edited by Carlo Daffara and Jesús
M. González-Barahona. The current version of this paper is
available at http://eu.conecta.it, together with a mail
list for discussion about it.